President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at expanding access to retirement savings accounts for Americans who do not have employer-provided plans, saying the move would let people open new low-cost IRAs beginning at the start of next year. He said the administration will set up TrumpIRA.gov by January so workers can begin using it when the matching opportunity takes effect.
Trump said the site will give Americans access to the same kind of retirement accounts available to federal employees through the Thrift Savings Plans. He said low-income workers will be eligible for up to $1,000 a year in matching funds through the Federal Savings Match program, and pointed to a 25-year-old who contributes $165 a month as an example of how the benefit could grow to an estimated $465,000 by age 65.
A White House official confirmed the planned order to FOX Business earlier Thursday. The administration’s effort is meant to work alongside 2022 legislation that directed the federal government to match retirement-plan contributions for people earning below $35,000 with as much as $1,000 beginning next year, tying the new push to a law already on the books.
The Treasury Department is expected to screen the retirement plans listed on the site and let workers filter private-sector options by different factors so they can join one that would qualify for the match if they are eligible. The order will also tell Treasury to promote the match and publish information for private-sector providers that want to offer IRAs to workers, but it will not involve the kind of partnerships with certain financial institutions that accompanied Trump Accounts.
Trump cast the plan as a major change for workers without employer-sponsored retirement coverage, saying millions would be covered. The open question is how quickly Treasury can stand up the website, screen the plans and explain the new matching system before the January launch.